What your statement says about human nature is we advance the knowledge base when we get motivated to do so. The story goes that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree one day, when an apple fell out of the tree, striking him on his head. At that time, an explanation of gravitational attraction did not exist. The occurence got Newton working in the direction of explaining this force of attraction that kept moons orbiting planets, planets orbiting the sun, and apples falling the ground. When we get motivated, we get things done.

Thomas Edison is credited with the invention of the modern electric light bulb. It is said that Edison experimented with 10,000 different combinations fo filaments before finding the right substance that would not burn out immediately. When asked about the sheer number of obvious failures on his way to finding the right combination, Edison responded "I did not experience 10, 000 failures; rather, I found 10,000 combinations that did not work." Edison did not let failure stop his efforts. We must expect some degree of failure when delving into the unknown, otherwise we would know everything and get it all right on the first attempt.